Tag Archives: general

Looking for a reliable and cheap air courier for your imported products? In this article, you’ll get a complete overview of the largest American, European and local air courier companies operating in China – including the following:

DHL

FedEx

UPS

TNT

China Post

Hong Kong Post

SF Express

We also cover Amazon’s plans to step into the international logistics market, and how you can find the air courier with the best prices and service.

DHL

DHL or DHL Express is a German based courier service founded in 1969. The head office of the company is based in Bonn, Germany.

DHL is also ranked as the world’s largest courier service with its presence all over the world including China.

DHL has presence in China for last three decades with its regional head office located in Beijing. It’s now known as one of the leading courier and logistic companies in China out of 35,000 companies working in the same market.

Some of their core delivery and air freight services include:

Worldwide delivery service and international shipping

DHL eCommerce that includes international and domestic parcel pickup, delivery, and return solutions specifically designed for businesses.

The other DHL air freight options include DHL Air Priority, DHL Air Connect, DHL Air Economy, DHL Air Charter, DHL Air Thermonet, DHL Air Freight Plus, Lifeconex, and DHL Air Combined. Continue Reading →

Do you have a product that you would like to order from a supplier on Alibaba.com? Ordering from Alibaba.com might seem like a simple task but a quick search on Google or the Alibaba forum proves the opposite.

This article provides you with a step by step guide to ordering from Alibaba.

Step 1. Sourcing products on Alibaba.com

There are three ways to source products at Alibaba. Product Search, Supplier Search or by posting a Buying Request. The Supplier Search is the latest Alibaba search option and in my opinion superior to the other two, below I explain why.Continue Reading →

The life of every product begins on the drawing board. While most products also stay on the drawing board, that is not John had in mind for his product, The DrawBag.

In this customer success story, John explains how he managed the process, from finding the right supplier and making product samples, to design patents and trademarking.

I believe this product will become really big, so don’t forget where you read about it first!

(And btw, you’ll get something extra at the end of this article)

John, please tell us a bit about your background and why you ended up moving to China.

I’m American, and grew up on the east coast of the US. I worked professionally as an artist, actor, and director in NYC and regionally before moving to Sydney, Australia in 2017 where I helmed the Creative Arts department of a large private school for four years.

I then moved to Guangzhou, China to help launch both the Art and Drama programs at two separate international schools here.

While here, I realized I had the great opportunity to try my hand at manufacturing some of my own design ideas.

Classic version

Interior (Classic)

Signature version

I was really impressed the first time I saw your product. How did you come up with this concept?

The DrawBag is basically three existing things combined in a new way: a backpack, kraft paper, and writing/drawing utensils. I had seen kraft-paper emerge as a usable material in fashion bags in the months leading up to my conception of the DrawBag, and while out idea-hunting at the Canton Fair early in 2017, I suddenly made the connection between these three existing elements, which to me as an artist seemed an obvious combination worth creating.

My initial design idea was to create a graduation-specific backpack for high school seniors with which to collect signatures and well-wishes from friends in the last week or so of school, but this idea quickly expanded into a bag that was less specific in its application, and more open and inviting to the unique personality and creativity of each owner in how they might design and use it. Continue Reading →

Almost half of our readers are located outside of the United States and the European Union. Yet, the majority of our customers in these countries are mainly selling in the US or Europe. Or both.

One of our subscribers, Ariel, is one of them.

In this article, he explains how he started selling in the United States, on Amazon.com, while being based in Israel and Europe.

Please tell us a bit about yourself and what you did before starting with your current business

I was born in France, and moved to Israel about 20 years ago.

I always had a passion to travel, so, logically, I always searched for source of incomes that can be managed from any places in the world.

I studied economics, but worked a very briefly as an employee. Only about 2 years, then I began to import goods from the United States, to France for several years when I still lived there. Essentially motorcycles and accessories.

When I arrive in Israel, I first worked in software for a big company.

In parallel, I began to sell online about 10 years ago, at Ebay France, managing the shop digitally from Israel while having a partner in France taking care of all the “physical” work.

You just received a new batch. You did everything right, including clear product spec sheets and a pre-shipment inspection. And still, the supplier manages to mess up your order.

Sometimes, quality issues slip through, and you need to know how to deal with situations that involve returning defective items to your supplier.

In this article, you will learn how the entire process works:

How to report defective products to your supplier

Why you should not even ask for a refund

How to write a ‘product remake action plan’

How to incentive your supplier to remake or repair the defective items

1. Check your products and report defects immediately

Defective or damaged products must be reported immediately. Preferably within 48 hours of receiving the shipment. The longer you delay, the harder it will be to support a claim that the supplier is responsible.

You don’t need to do a visual check on every single unit, but check at least 10% of the quantity.

If you find any quality issues, that are not in line with the pre-shipment inspection result, you must provide the following:

The Procurement Agent is a freelancer, or part of a larger organisation, arranging various aspects of the trade between China and the buyers around the world. There is no set standard for what exactly a Procurement Agent shall do.

For the sake of clarification, I list a few examples below:

Supplier Identification & Price Research

Sample & Prototype Development

Quality Assurance & Quality Inspections

Social Compliance Audits

Product Compliance Consulting & Product Testing

Shipping & Logistics

Customs Procedures & VAT

This industry, which has grown very big in Asia in the last few decades, includes everything from rogue agents to major trading houses. The purpose of this article is to explain what a Procurement Agent can be expected to do for your business, and how they differ.

Finding the right shipping company or freight forwarder in China can be a serious challenge. Logistics account for a tenth of the world GDP, and includes everything from small scale bookings agencies to online platforms with live tracking.

In this guide, we help you select the right shipping company for your import business.

Some of these companies are traditional freight forwarders, while others are shipping marketplaces, where you can get quotations, book, pay and track your shipments.

Keep reading, and learn what you must know about Fleet,Freightos, ChinaDivision, FloShip, Flexport and many other companies – as we compare them based on their services offered, locations and ratings.

Disclaimer: Most of these companies are not headquartered in Mainland China or Hong Kong S.A.R. However, all listed shipping companies and forwarders have partners or local offices in China. Some are also headquartered in China (including Hong Kong S.A.R), such as FloShip, ChinaDivision and Freightos.

Freightos

Freightos is the like Expedia or Travelocity for international freight. Basically, with the Freightos Marketplace, importers can easily compare, book, and manage international freight from over 50 freight providers. They’re very much geared towards supporting small importers as well, with some great support resources, as well as live chat and phone support.

Plus, it’s free to sign up and compare shipments, so there’s no real reason not to use, even if only for competitive intelligence.

Freightos has received highly-positive online feedback from customers. Their marketplace is global, with providers based in the US, Canada, the UK, China, and elsewhere. Forwarders that sell on the Freightos marketplace include many well-known reliable logistics companies like HTCG, Sinotech, Amass, AB Logistics, and Eurasia.

The ordering process on Freightos is straightforward, including streamlined handoff of your documentation to the forwarder, and centralized shipment management.

Founded in 2012 by serial entrepreneur Dr. Zvi Schreiber, Freightos has raised over $50 million dollars and has six offices worldwide, including Miami Beach, Barcelona and Jerusalem.

Tryfleet.com

Founded in 2014, fleet acts as an online logistics marketplace where you as importer can connect with shippers and other service providers.

The service helps you find the best possible solution for your goods shipment for the best price and make you take an informed decision.

The head office of the company is based in Portland, Oregon, United States, but it offers its services to clients from all over the world including China.

The website with simple user interface allows you to choose air or ocean freight, provide details of country of origin and destination, and get instant quotes from a wide range of freight services.

All the freight forwarders listed on the website are verified by Fleet. Each forwarder is also rated and reviewed by the clients on the website so you can have a good idea about the forwarder’s reputation.

In addition, the service also provides an online dashboard to streamline all communication with the forwarder, track shipments in real time, get quick support, and easy and fast payments.

Why bother with making custom designed or private label products when you can simply import off-shelf items from one of the many Chinese wholesale websites?

While importing wholesale products is not as straightforward and risk free as you might think, you should still be aware of the top China wholesale and dropshipping websites – and learn how they all differ.

Alibaba.com

Alibaba is known as the world’s largest B2B supplier directory. While a significant number of wholesalers and trading companies are listed on Alibaba.com – it was not created as a wholesale website.

Since it was launched, and until today, Alibaba.com is primarily a manufacturer directory.

If you’ve ever tried to reach out to suppliers on Alibaba.com, you know how hard it can be to make them respond to your request for quotation.

That said, Alibaba suppliers often have good reasons for not responding to inquiries.

In this interview, Wayne Zhang explains what you can do to improve your Alibaba supplier response rate, which communication apps to use and much more.

Wayne, please tell us about yourself and how you got into sourcing

Oh my, unfortunately, I do not think this will be a type of an answer that packs in a lot of “Hollywood” like action, but just a plain simple reality. I used to work for a company that provided similar services to foreign clients from around the globe.

And, truth be told I worked there for a while, right after I graduated from University.

I studied commerce, and one of my foreign languages was English, so it seemed like a great idea at the time, and it was. My responsibilities included finding clients, going through their requests, find products at a price they requested, place an order and make sure the final shipment was sent out. So, I did everything from door to door, sort of speak.

I considered this to be a great start of my career because already back then I saw myself working in this industry for a long time because, in my opinion, it had potential.

I was right.

I learned a lot while working for my first company and it equipped me with a very valuable set of skills that eventually proved to be very advantageous in building my own business. I knew that I want to have my own company one day, so I worked hard, saved money and just went for it. Continue Reading →